


A Back to Scrub

by Watashi_wa_Okami



Series: Oneshots no one asked for [10]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Ghost Ryokan Arc, Gintoki's Dead, Hot Springs & Onsen, In Character, Light Angst, No Mention of How he Died, None of these Tags Exist, Post-Canon, Senbokyo Onsen Guesthouse, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, but not really, that's not important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28947363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Watashi_wa_Okami/pseuds/Watashi_wa_Okami
Summary: Gintoki had lived life to the fullest. Or, perhaps he had simply lived. Day by day, arc by arc, he lived. Until, of course, he didn't. But that was the natural course of life. He had been more than familiar with death from a young age, but he'd never really thought of what came after death. That was, until Otose had sent him and the gang to an Onsen full of lost souls.He'd never thought of it before then, but he'd probably end up like a lost and prowling soul.So why not cut the wandering and self-pity in half and visit the place one last time?
Series: Oneshots no one asked for [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1516460
Kudos: 25





	A Back to Scrub

**Author's Note:**

> Gintoki at the end of the Ghost Ryokan Arc? Of course he'd go back, of course he would. This is Gintoki we're talking about.

How he died didn't really matter. Perhaps he grew to be an old fart, hobbled over and crawling along with aching joints, using his sword more as a cane than a weapon.

Perhaps he died soon after the final arc of _Gintama._

It didn't really mean much once he had died. He'd lived life to the fullest. Or, perhaps he had simply lived. Day by day, arc by arc, he just... lived. Doing odd jobs, sending Kagura off to space every now and then, and helping out at Koudoukan. Things did eventually calm down, contrary to everything that had ever happened in his life. The people around him had figured things out and he had too, in his own way.

And he died, as he always knew he would.

It doesn't surprise him when he opens his eyes to see a world he'd recently left. It also doesn't surprise him that, when he looks down, he finds himself in the same old outfit, swirls and all, bokken at his side. Transparent, but it's there (he does _not_ check for a hitaikakushi on his forehead, that might be a bit much. Baby steps.)

He wanders for some time. Oedo had changed, and not for the worse. Katsura made sure of that. But it had changed.

As a stand or spirit or whatever, he found himself wandering away from those familiar streets. They held memories, happy memories of him and the kids and their friends. But as a wandering spirit, his feet would take him to the graveyard and a Snack Shop full of new faces and empty of old ones.

He could only go on like that for so long.

But time was skewed in that limbo and everything moved around him in a blurry mass, as if his eyes couldn't catch every frame. So he couldn't be sure how long he'd stayed around, but he wouldn't just wait, moping and kicking at rocks that won't move.

So he leaves. He'd always been good at abandoning places. After all, he lets them live on in his soul - ah, they truly do live on in his soul. It's all he has left. He's always made it work.

The walk is long. It would be tiring, but no real legs means no real fatigue. So he takes his time on the roads, eyes on the shifting world around him. It isn't as vibrant as it had been in life, the colors grayed and almost monochrome, but it's not all gone. There's still plenty of life left in him and the world. And he watches it. The birds, the trees, the people. He'd always liked watching nature, ever since he was a kid on the battlefields. With such a long walk, he witnesses plenty. It almost doubles what he had seen through his entire life, just walking.

As if he had lived again.

He could almost make himself pass on, but then what would be the point of the journey?

It's odd when he gets to the mountain. He'd walked through all nature had to offer, but climbing a snowy mountain and not feeling a single bite of the cold? That was chillingly new in an irony that does not get past him.

When he reaches the top, the sight of polished wood makes a smile spread across his lips. He can't help it, and when he notices the pull he doesn't force it to leave. Instead, he walks right up to the building.

"Oi! Anyone home, oi!" He'd never get used to slipping through doors but he can't help it this once. There's no one at the front desk so he wanders. It had been a long time since he'd been here, how long he couldn't quite be sure. But he still knew the layout, more or less (though he spots newer areas and wanders there too.) He even finds himself a bag of peanuts to chew on as he walks. "Rei? Oiwa? Ah man, am I too late? Maybe they already passed on. Ah, what a drag - oh, that's not my line. But I can't even do my line, who would I give 300 yen to?" He stops in a familiar hallway, turning to see a room he had once inhabited. The Japanese-style, although they were _all_ Japanese-style, the old lady and her tricks.

But inside the room is a familiar face. One that doesn't blurrily shift with each movement. In fact, she looks more lively than he had ever seen her.

As if she weren't a stand.

Of course, he knows she is. He had allowed her to possess him once upon a time, he'd never forget that face for as long as he lives - lived? For the rest of his death, at least.

"Foouund you," he sings at her and leans on the doorframe. She just stares at him, light eyes widening but only as she recognizes him. Then, she smiles, eyes crinkling around the edges.

"Welcome back."

**Author's Note:**

> Rewatching Gintama with a doc out, writing down ideas per episode because why not? Which... explains why I'm pumping out fanfics as if I don't have any other responsibilities (which, I do, but oh well.)


End file.
